Washington’s reception of the news illustrates
both his iron composure and the gusts of passion under
which it sometimes gave way. The details are
unquestionably authentic, as they were communicated
by Washington’s secretary who witnessed the
scene. Washington was having a dinner party when
an officer arrived at the door and sent word that he
was the bearer of dispatches from the Western army.
The secretary went out to him, but the officer said
his instructions were to deliver the dispatches to
the President in person. Washington then went
to the officer and received the terrible news.
He returned to the table as though nothing had happened,
and everything went on as usual. After dinner
there was a reception in Mrs. Washington’s drawing-room
and the President, as was his custom, spoke courteously
to every lady in the room. By ten o’clock
all the visitors had gone and Washington began to
pace the floor at first without any change of manner,
but soon he began to show emotional excitement and
he broke out suddenly: “It’s all
over! St. Clair is defeated—­routed,—­the
officers nearly all killed—­the men by wholesale,—­the
rout complete,—­too shocking to think of,—­and
a surprise into the bargain!”

When near the door in his agitated march about the
room, he stopped and burst forth, “Yes, here
on this very spot I took leave of him; I wished him
success and honor; ‘You have your instructions,’
I said, ’from the Secretary of War; I had a
strict eye to them, and will add one word—­
Beware of a surprise! You know how the Indians
fight us!’ He went off with that as my last
solemn warning thrown into his ears. And yet,
to suffer that army to be cut to pieces—­hacked,
butchered, tomahawked—­by a surprise!
O God, O God, he’s worse than a murderer!
How can he answer it to his country! The blood
of the slain is upon him—­the curse of the
widows and orphans—­the curse of Heaven!”

The secretary relates that this torrent of passion
burst forth in appalling tones. The President’s
frame shook. “More than once he threw his
hands up as he hurled imprecations upon St. Clair.”
But at length he got his feelings under control, and
after a pause he remarked, “I will hear him
without prejudice. He shall have full justice.”
St. Clair was, indeed, treated with marked leniency.
A committee of the House reported that the failure
of the expedition could not “be imputed to his
conduct, either at any time before or during the action.”
St. Clair was continued in his position as Governor
of the Northwest Territory and remained there until
1802.

Notwithstanding the dire results of relying on casual
levies, Congress was still stubbornly opposed to creating
an effective force under national control, and in
this attitude to some extent reflected even frontier
sentiment. Ames in a letter of January 13, 1792,
wrote that “even the views of the western people,
whose defense has been undertaken by government, have
been unfriendly to the Secretary of War and to the